The Rise of Death's Head
by TheTomFox
Summary: Follow the story of the 39th Tactical Company led by me as they seek to help Russia conquer the globe in World War 3. This is a story based on my current play-through, so anything can happen. Anyone can die. Who will rise to the rank of legends, and who will become nothing more than a footnote on history.
1. The Conquest of Grissom Airbase

Week 1

World War 3 began as the tensions rose thanks to espionage work from Russia, causing Europe and America to blame one another for a series of terrorist attacks and ultimately declaring war on one another. Russia capitalised on this and also launched into the fray. They played their hand. They had started World War 3, now they had to finish it.

* * *

So it was, that the Spetznaz Guard Battalion selected Commander Fox to lead his company, the 39th Tactical, to engage the enemies of Russia across the globe in their power struggle for world domination. The first thing that Commander Fox ordered prior to engaging any foe, was to upgrade the units in his company to make them more combat effective. He equipped his riflemen with fractured camo, new technology which allowed units to become practically invisible to enemy units without detection systems. He also gave his riflemen special forces training to make them more combat effective, as well as some basic field training to his engineers to help them survive on the battlefield. He upgraded his gunships with new power units to increase their speed and armoured cabins to protect the pilots. His tanks were upgraded to fire 'Bunker Buster' shells and the combat transports were given new power units to increase their speed, much like the gunships, and extra armour plating to defend the drivers and the infantry they may be seated inside. Once all the upgrades were fitted and the training completed, Fox had his company relocate to a mobile sea base in the Atlantic Ocean. From there, they planned and launched an assault on Grissom Air Base in America. They flew in on choppers and an infantry unit code named Death's Head and a gunship squadron named Snow Owl were the first to deploy onto the battlefield. Intel told them that the enemy commander was Mike Kim of the 3rd Tactical Battalion and that nearby military bases granted the Americans with air cover and regular army forces to reinforce key positions, whereas Commander Fox would have to make do without either.

* * *

Snow Owl gunships flew around the air base, finding and eliminating enemy regular troops, but unfortunately, they couldn't locate any of the 3rd Tactical's units, until they chanced upon enemy combat transports. Anti-air fire filled the area around the gunships and they were forced to pull back, losing a gunship in the process. Meanwhile, Death's Head had been pushing up the middle of the battle, stealthily taking uplink sites before the America's could secure them. Another rifleman unit code named Red Fang had also deployed and used combat transports named Steel Cage to roamed the left flank, aiming to secure the uplinks there and encountering fierce resistance while a tank squadron named Griffon deployed and drove full speed toward the enemy combat transports that were hounding the Snow Owl squadron. When the tanks arrived and beat the transports into the ground, Snow Owl was down to only 2 gunships. Heavily diminished numbers meant that they would be unlikely to see any more action in this battle, but Commander Fox still used them to scout out uplinks before infantry teams could arrive. A newly deployed riflemen unit named Ironclaw pushed up the right flank, engaging enemy regulars and securing uplink sites. An engineer unit named Bloodhound had also deployed and was moving out to defend uplink sites from a potential American counter-attack. Elsewhere, Death's Head had pushed up the centre, almost to the enemy's deployment zone, and they took cover in a large tower overlooking the last uplink between them and the American deployment zone. Commander Fox committed another gunship squadron to the battle known as Dragonfly as the Americans declared DEFCON 1 and crashed a central uplink with a computer virus. The way was finally clear for Steel Cage to push on the left flank and transport Red Fang to an uplink when the Americans launched a kinetic strike from their military space station and the blast took down Steel Cage and Red Fang who were seated inside, as well as Snow Owl. Fortunately, all 3 units did have survivors from the blast and were safely extracted from the battlefield. Death's Head pushed forwards from the building they were previously taking cover in and attacked the Americans' final uplink. The successfully took the site, but the Americans were deploying in large numbers nearby and attacking them immediately with heavy amounts of firepower. Commander Fox ordered everyone to move all-out towards Death's Head, hoping to save them before they succumbed to the Americans' counter-attack, but they were all still far away. With no hope, no reinforcements and the uplink's defences crumbling around them. Death's Head fought on, willing to sacrifice themselves for the good of the Motherland. And so their bravery was rewarded when Commander Fox authorised the use of a Thermal Nuclear Warhead to launch towards the enemy deployment zone. Death's Head took cover behind what was left of the uplink as the warhead collided with the ground and detonated. All of the American forces in the area were killed in the blast, with not a single man from Death's Head dying from the nuclear blast. Death's Head had performed valiantly, taking uplinks and even when surrounded they fought until support could arrive. In the end, the support wasn't needed. Death's Head were a celebrated squad that night as Russian forces moved in to act as a garrison for Grissom Air Base, now belonging to the Russians thank to the valour of Death's Head and the skill of Commander Fox.

* * *

In celebration, Death's Head were promoted to the rank of Regulars alongside Ironclaw, Snow Owl, Bloodhound, Steel Cage and Griffon. The gunship unit Dragonfly was promoted to rank 3, hardened warriors in the face of battle. The riflemen unit RedFang, which had been inside Steel Cage when the kinetic strike hit was not promoted, as it was felt as though they 'made no contribution to the battle as a whole.' So RedFang remained shamed recruits.

* * *

Commander Fox sat in the control tower of Grissom Air Base, where Death's Head had held position for some time in the battle, sipping coffee and reading over the reports coming in from command back in the Motherland. It seemed America was struggling with this war as they had lost Grissom to them as well as territory in the south. Europe was pushed out hard and strong, defending Arrabida from an American invasion force and driving them back to America, taking Okefenokee on the process. Unfortunately, reports showed that Russian had lost ground to the Europeans also, conceding Istra to them. So in conclusion, it would seem that American was losing ground rapidly in this war and Europe was fighting fiercely against all opponents.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Hey guys, so this story is just gonna be me making notes of my current play-through of Tom Clancy's Endwar and then converting that to a story, so don't expect super long chapters. Anyway, enjoy!**


	2. The Conquest of Fort Campbell

Week 2

Commander Fox was sent more reports of the war and he was given the choice of where to deploy his battalion to engage the enemy. While listening to the news detailing Russia's successes in the past week since he had helped them take Grissom Air Base. Commander Fox chose to keep the pressure on America and launch an attack to take over Fort Campbell, south of their current position. Before leaving to attack, Commander Fox upgraded his riflemen units to carry grenade launcher attachments on their rifles for heavier engagements. Intel informed Commander Fox that the enemy would still have air support and would be able to call in regular army troops to defend, but now his battalion would also be able to call in airstrikes on enemy positions thanks to Grissom Air Base. Once again, the enemy commander was Mike Kim, his 3rd Tactical Battalion still recovering from the engagement at Grissom last week. And with that, the 39th Tactical Battalion moved south to Fort Campbell.

* * *

When the company arrived at Fort Campbell it was the dead of the night. Hoping to seize an opportunity to surprise the Americans and the still-wounded company here, Commander Fox ordered his forces to begin the attack. Once more, Death's Head and Snow Owl led the charge in the same fashion that they did last week: Snow Owl prowled the sky and Death's Head engaged their stealth armour and advanced on foot, taking uplink sites in the process. It wasn't long until the army troops gifted to Commander Fox for the initial engagement met the Fort's garrison and a vicious firefight ensued. Death's Head joined in the engagement, their superior skills tipping the balance in favour of the Russian forces. The Snow Owl gunships flew over and provided aerial support, eventually wiping out the garrison. The Russian army troops held position where they were while Death's Head advanced to the next uplink and Snow Owl continued on with their patrol. Combat transports, code named Steel Cage deployed alongside an engineers squad named Bloodhound. Bloodhound embarked into Steel Cage and they set off to upgrade the already secured uplinks to enable airstrikes into the combat zone. As they stopped and Bloodhound disembarked and entered the uplink, shells rained down from the heavens as distant artillery fired on their position. The uplink mostly protected the engineers from the blasts and Steel Cage's shields held, but the fire power was punishing and they wouldn't last forever. As soon as the uplink was upgraded, Commander Fox ordered Bloodhound to re-embark into Steel Cage and to move out immediately. Meanwhile, he redirected Snow Owl with new orders. They couldn't see the artillery, but they saw the shells being launched, so they moved swiftly toward that position. When they arrived, they encountered the artillery pieces being defended by an engineer squad entrenched in a building. Against entrenched engineers, Snow Owl knew they wouldn't last long. They fired at the artillery as much as they could and Commander Fox called in an airstrike on their position. The artillery was down to just 2 vehicles before their shields even fell. The artillery vehicles made ready to move out to try to escape Snow Owl and the engineers concentrated all of their firepower at the gunships. Commander Fox ordered Snow Owl to pull out as soon as their shields fell and called in another airstrike. The artillery was defeated, but the engineers prevented Snow Owl from finishing them off, allowing them to be evacuated and taken safely off the battlefield to fight another day.

Across the battlefield, Steel Cage's shields were down and they had taken some damage from the bombardment, but they had not lost a vehicle and they were mostly intact. They were now pushing for other uplinks as Griffon advanced after deployment and joined up with Steel Cage. Ironclaw pushed up on the left flank. Death's Head had pushed hard in the centre before veering off to the right flank and pushing around until they were behind enemy lines. Dragonfly had also deployed and rushed to help Death's Head. At this point, DEFCON had triggered. The American's crashed the uplink closest to the Russian's deployment zone but they held their WMD in reserve for now. Snow Owl saw the previously entrenched engineers break from cover and rushed to engage them. They managed to get the shields down to a quarter of its total power before the engineers managed to find cover in a small wooded area. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, the pushed on with the attack, despite the engineers rapidly lowering their shields. Griffon and Steel Cage were rapidly approaching to reinforce them but Commander Fox ordered another airstrike, this time on the engineers. Snow Owl did not have good view on the engineers so they flew around to the other side of the wood to get a better line of sight on them and the engineers rushed to that edge to engage the gunships. At that moment, the airstrike payload hit and it took out half of the engineers in the process, but Snow Owl was also caught by the payload and half of their number went down. The remaining gunships were shot down by the engineers before they could retreat to safety. Griffon rolled in soon after and killed the remaining engineers as they attempted to flee. At that moment, the Americans launched their WMD. The kinetic strike was directed to hit the fallen Snow Owl and as they exited their shot-down gunships to enter the transport helicopter, the strike hit them. Bloodhound and Steel Cage, Griffon and Ironclaw were also caught in the blast and went down. Rescue helicopters flew in to save any survivors. Death's Head was forced to hide by an uplink they and just taken and hold their position. Commander Fox swore loud and ordered emergency reinforcement to deploy on the field. Dragonfly altered its course from heading to reinforce Death's Head to heading to flying as fast as their engines would allow to the central uplink to defend that key position against the American advance. Commander Fox deployed new units of gunships, tanks and transports named Vulture and Condor, Mammoth, and Express, respectively. They thundered forwards, a mirror representation of Commander Fox's rage at the sudden turn of the tables. The charged across the battlefield, wiping out enemy units wherever they could be found. As the tank squadron Mammoth fired once more with the help of the combat transports Express as the 2 gunship squadrons Vulture and Condor guarded the enemy's deployment zone, the enemy was completely wiped from the combat zone. Fort Campbell was now under Russian control.

* * *

After the battle, Death's Head was promoted once more, now to the rank hardened, and Griffon, Bloodhound, Condor and Mammoth were also promoted. Dragonfly, Steel Cage, Vulture, Express and Iron Claw did not get promoted, but Steel Cage and Ironclaw did survive the kinetic blast. Snow Owl did not survive the blast. The entire unit was K.I.A. Their bodies were sent home and their memories will be forever honoured in the 39th Tactical Battalion. No songs were sung this night. As Commander Fox read over the reports from around the globe again, he found the America had defended against a Russian assault on Springfield, but had lost again to Europe, conceding Pamlico this time. Europe was starting to become a threat to Russian supremacy as they had now taken Vlore as well.


	3. Defense of Fort Levski

Week 3

Commander Fox and his battalion spent the remainder of the week in Fort Campbell, waiting for fresh supplies and a recent upgrade that Commander Fox had commissioned. The Commander had ordered Tactical Body Armour for his riflemen, hoping to make them more survivable in the field. The vehicles brought raw killing power, but the strength of infantry cannot be debated. At the end of the week, the battalion flew out of America, the pivotal combat zone so far in this war, and back to the motherland. They landed a Fort Levski in the south of Russia in time to intercept and European attack force hoping to conquer the base. Europe had been advancing quickly and had to be stopped. The enemy commander was Lars Beckenbauer of the 22nd Armoured Battlegroup. This would be Commander Fox' first engagement against this particular Commander. He had no idea of any tactics or strategies that he would use, so Commander Fox decided to deploy a very flexible force to counter whatever moves the enemy made.

* * *

We drove hard into European lines, denying them key uplinks. Death's Head were rapidly becoming famous as they were the tip of the spear. They secured the central uplinks while other riflemen squads seized the flanks. With the support of tanks on the left flank and combat transports or the right. In the very centre of the battlefield was a large hill that was un-scalable on most sides and on that hill was a mansion and two uplinks. Death's Head advanced rapidly, taking both uplinks on the hill and encountering little resistance. It was on the flanks that most of the enemy were gathering and the flanks saw some heavy fighting between Griffon, Steelcage and the other vehicles against the enemy battalion. While Commander Fox had the vehicles advance and engage enemies they encountered, he would have infantry following behind. The vehicles would ruthlessly advance but they would hold position and defend whenever they reached and uplink and they would continue to do so until the designated infantry squad on that flank could secure the uplink, then they would advance again and clear the way for the infantry. Death's Head advanced alone, without any support, as Commander Fox had trust in their abilities. Eventually, the European forces launched an all-out assault on the most central uplink and abandoned the flanks, the same uplink that Death's Head had just secured and were now defending. Fearing for the life of the squad and not wanting a repeat of what happened to Snow Owl, Commander Fox ordered 2 gunship squadrons, Dragonfly and Condor, to move up and support them as Death's Head fell back from the uplink and took up positions in a large mansion overlooking the uplink. Before they could fall back from the onslaught, Dragonfly and Condor were shot down and crashed right outside the mansion, just as Death's Head scrambled inside. Enemy artillery moved into the trees at the base of the hill and rained hell on the mansion. Enemy tanks and transports parked at the base of the hill on the only road available to them to get up the hill. They too fired at Death's Head as they ducked into the cover of the mansion. A tidal wave of enemy infantry streamed up the road and moved to take the uplink from us. Death's Head, as testament to their military prowess, opened fire from their positions in the mansion and mowed down any and all infantry as they made their way up the hill. Even enemy gunships had appeared now, pumping all of their firepower to take down Death's Head. Commander Fox gave a direct order and support from the flanks tried desperately to push their way through enemy lines to reach the pinned down riflemen squad who were fighting furiously to stay alive in the mansion. In the end, that support never arrived.

* * *

"Commander! Death's Head here! We're pinned down in a mansion taking heavy fire! I repeat! We're pinned down by heavy fire! Requesting support! Over!"

"Copy that, Death's Head! Hold in there, boys, help is on the way!"

"Understood sir! We'll take down as many of them as we can!"

Lance Corporal Volkov had radioed in for support countless times now. Most of Death's Head were ducking behind low segments of wall that was still standing and occasionally poking their heads out to gun down any enemy infantry attempting to take the uplink that they were so furiously defending. They were down to just a third of their original number now and were still taking losses. Artillery was mercilessly pummelling them, gunships hovered around the mansion, ready to riddle them with holes the moment they broke cover. Tanks and combat transports were firing at anything that moved in the mansion. Death's Head were steadily losing hope but they were determined Russians. They had lost so many friends and comrades defending this mansion and the uplink, they weren't about to surrender it now. They would fight to the last man in honour of those lost. If their bullets ran out, then they would use their blades. If their blades ran dull, they would use their teeth. For death or glory, their unit would be remembered for all time in honour of their sacrifice for the Motherland. Even now, as Lance Corporal Volkov had this thought, another segment of wall was blown to bits, the small shards of concrete acting as shrapnel and mowing down soldier in its path. A large, gaping hole now dominated this side of the mansion and 3 floors were exposed from the side of it. This mansion was coming down around their ears! Another artillery shell exploded a few feet away from Volkov, the explosion sending him flying across the room and smacking his head violently on exposed concrete. His vision swam in front of him. He saw other men in his unit being gunned down by enemy fire, blood misting from them as the bullets hit. They were dead before they hit the ground. Volkov's vision faded as he lost consciousness.

* * *

In the end, that support never arrived. In the end, the enemy ran out of time. They had lost too many in exchange for too few. Despite still having forces who had nearly defeated the infamous Death's Head and secured the uplink, they retreated. Death's Head had held the uplink against all odds and lived to tell the tale. Another glorious victory for Mother Russia!

* * *

After the battle, Death's Head were deservedly promoted to veteran status, along with the gunship squadron Dragonfly, Steelcage and the riflemen squad who pushed on the left flank with them, Ironclaw, were also promoted to hardened status. Redfang finally rose above the rank of recruits and were promoted to the rank of regulars for their valiant and stalwart performance on the right flank, securing uplinks and attempting to push through enemy lines.

As usually, a Russian general sent Commander Fox the week's combat analysis reports and he read through them as his battalion re-armed and resupplied. The reports showed that after they had defended Fort Levski against the European invaders and had them on the back-foot, the Russian army had pushed Europe back out of Vlore and had successfully defended Carpathia and Thessaly from them. America had also pushed back strong against Europe, taking back Pamlico from them. Before the end of the week, Commander Fox and his battalion flew back to America, and were stationed at Fort Campbell until next week's battles.


	4. Battle of Shenandoah Valley

Week 4

Before pushing against American lines once more, Commander Fox acquired more upgrades for his men. He added a specially trained marksmen to each riflemen squad to increase their effectiveness against enemy infantry and he gave each engineer squad fragmentation RPGs to increase their effectiveness against enemy vehicles. He also ordered a regular army platoon to join his forces to be used to defend key positions in the heat of battle, without sacrificing any of his men to do the same job.

* * *

Intel told him that the main focus of this week's battles was Shenandoah Valley, West Virginia and that American forces were gathering here. Assaulting this place would open up the route to assault Washington D.C. and eliminate the main power of American forces. He listened closely at the intel for this key battle. His battalion would be assaulting over land from a forward staging area. In the battle, our forces would have air cover from Grissom Airbase and Fort Campbell would lend us assets in range to bolster our defences. The enemy would also have air cover and regular army troops from their nearby military bases. The enemy commander, who was leading all of the troops assembled in the valley was Commander Jordan Taylor of the American 35th Airborne battalion. Due to the numbers of troops in that area, the uplink sites would not be a priority for this battle. The goal was to wipe out as many troops as possible. After all the preparations were made, the battalion moved out and marched to Shenandoah Valley to engage the enemy. When they arrived to make battle, it was exactly midday.

* * *

Two riflemen squads, Death's Head and Ironclaw, deployed first along with combat transports from Steelcage squadron and Dragonfly gunships. All of them advanced forwards immediately, eager to engage the enemy. Ironclaw advances to an uplink site to upgrade it to allow for airstrikes while the Griffon tank squadron deploys to the field. This is a fortunate move by Commander Fox as Dragonfly encounters enemy transports not too long after and has to pull away before the transports can open fire while Griffon squadron is ordered to move up and intercept the transports. Death's head had pushed up hard and fast and had secured the only uplink that had not been occupied at the start of the battle and were now fending off enemy regular troops as enemy artillery fire zoned in on them. Meanwhile, Dragonfly crossed the battlefield to engage an enemy tank squadron attempting to cross a bridge on the far left flank and in the process, they spotted the enemy artillery. Dragonfly takes out the tank squadron, leaving their smoking wrecks on the bridge as they move over onto the enemy's side of the battle to engage the artillery squad firing at Death's Head, but were startled to find that there were two artillery squadrons firing from the same position! This presented an opportunity that was simply too good to pass up and Commander Fox grinned at the idea. He calling in two airstrikes of the enemy artillery's position and moved Dragonfly back slightly, to avoid a repeat of what happened to Snow Owl, a decision that will hang over his head and bring him shame for a long time to come. The first airstrike's strafing run brought down the number of artillery pieces in each squad by half. The second airstrike takes out the remaining half of both squads and Dragonfly moves away from the scene to engage a large mass of regular infantry troops. As this is happening, Dragonfly squadron spots enemy riflemen squads dashing for cover out in the open. The break off the engagement and fly quickly to engage the riflemen. Their firepower and two airstrikes later, the riflemen squad lies dead in the middle of the road.

* * *

"Commander Fox, sir, this is Death's Head. Permission to abandon this uplink and push into enemy lines?"

 ***Static***

"Negative soldier. Your objective stands: Hold position and defend that uplink."

 ***Static***

"Copy that, sir."

* * *

Lance Corporal Volkov had a bandage wrapped around his head to cover his wound from when he smashed his head on concrete one week prior. The medic had told him that he was lucky to be alive. Either way, he was deemed still fit for combat and deployed with his squad again for this battle, despite his injury still effecting him slightly. He was visibly annoyed with the commander's orders for his squad. He trusted in his squad and knew they could handle going on the offensive while they had this window of opportunity, even if the commander disagreed. One of the Privates in the squad ran low behind cover over to him.

"Sir, what did the commander say?"

Volkov sighed before replying.

"We're to hold position here."

"But sir," the Private said, "Are we really just gonna lie around here without a damn thing to shoot at?"

A grin spread across Volkov's face.

"Hell no, soldier."

* * *

After Dragonfly had taken down the enemy riflemen and much debating between Commander Fox and Death's Head, Death's Head advanced to attack an enemy uplink. Ironclaw also pushes along the bridge where Dragonfly squadron had taken out the enemy tanks and move to secure a different enemy uplink, this time with the commander's approval. Griffon moves ahead of Ironclaw to secure the area in preparation for Ironclaw's arrival and they engage enemy regular troops taking cover in the woods. Dragonfly also takes on another riflemen unit who are taking cover in a building. Dragonfly calls in a single airstrike which Commander Fox authorises to weaken the riflemen and Dragonfly takes them out, but tragically lost a single one of their number in the process. As the infantry get taken down, enemy transport choppers fly overhead and begin deploying enemy engineers, so Dragonfly moves to engage and Death's Head and Ironclaw both secure an uplink.

* * *

"Soldier, what do you think you're doing?!"

"Assaulting enemy positions, sir."

"I gave you a strict order to HOLD YOUR POSITION!"

"Respectively, sir, we just took an enemy uplink for our own and pushed back the enemy."

* * *

Dragonfly squadron called in an airstrike on the enemy engineers as their deployed and Griffon tank squadron took out the remaining enemy regular troops in the valley as the engineers were gunned down. The enemy cannot reinforcement the area and they are pushed out of the valley. The entire American gathering in this area has been successfully wiped out. Victory!

* * *

Death's Head walked casually over to the large transport plane that was moving them back to base, chatting amongst themselves. As the boarding ramp leading into the cargo hold at the rear of the plane lowered, they were confronted by the very angry Commander Fox.

"Form up, soldiers!" he bellowed at them. They quickly dropped their packs and fell into line. He paced up and down the line of men, yelling in their faces as he passed.

"You disobeyed a direct order! You could have compromised the mission for the sake of your _glory_!"

He stopped at the end of the line and turned to stare directly into the eyes of Lance Corporal Volkov.

"YOU are responsibly for your squad! You may have cost a vital uplink just to advance. You directly ignored my orders!"

He glared at him for several moments before saying "Good work."

Commander Fox turned on his heels and strolled back to the plane. The entire squad breathed out a massive sigh of relief behind him as he walked away. They hadn't realised that they were holding their breath.

* * *

In the after-action report, only Griffon were promoted and they were officially labelled as a veteran squadron. No other unit received a promotion in this battle, much to the surprise of Commander Fox. He believed that such a successful operation to cripple enemy forces deserved many promotions for his men, especially because central command had informed him that he fought that battle with 100% mobility and combat skill also 100%.

* * *

Throughout the week, Russia was successful across all fronts. The European raid on Fort Levski was beaten back by Russian security and because Commander Fox's battalion had crippled American armed forces, Russia also took Springfield and Chattanooga with relative ease. Europe also took Pamlico from the Americans for the second time. With the large Russian push in America in the week, the road to Washington was open and in a last ditch attempt to distract Russian forces, American forces were flying out of Washington to raid Fort Campbell. Only time would tell if it was a futile effort, or a tide turning move.


	5. The Conquest of Pamlico

Week 5

After a month since the start of the war, the heat was definitely turning up and things were beginning to get serious. All 3 sides were stepping up their games and increasing their military output. As the country acquired more military equipment, so too did the 39th Tactical Battalion. Commander Fox requisitioned new 'Kontakt' Armour plating for the battalion's tanks, which offered them extra protection against kinetic energy and blast munitions, and also a new weapon code named the 'bumblebee' which was a new turret mounted chemical flamethrower. He also upgraded the battalion's gunships to have selectable munitions, allowing them to now switch between firing their hull mounted machine gun and high-fragmentation, explosive incendiary rounds. This gave his gunships a significant boost to their combat performance, as they could engage different targets with different weaponry.

* * *

Commander Fox had been presented the honour of leading the assault on Washington DC, but the commander didn't have the heart. He had seen first-hand the Americans valiantly defending their homeland. He couldn't bring himself to end the American spirit and crush the country completely. He took some form of twisted pity on them, and politely refused the honour, in favour of pushing against the ever-expanding Europeans. Reports had shown that Pamlico was heavily contested by the Americans and the Europeans. Currently, it was under European control, and with the Americans now consolidating what remained of their power, he doubted they would be able to take the territory back. So for this reason, he chose to lead his task force against them to encompass more of America under Russian control. Military grade transport copters delivered them to the battlespace and ground forces command lent him assets in range. The enemy commander was Santiago Arnavisca of the Enforcer's Mechanised Battlegroup 8.

* * *

As the transport copters flew into the airspace, a cold wind blew fiercely against them. The sky was consumed by clouds and a storm was sure to hit within a few hours. Death's Head, Ironclaw and SteelCage deployed first. Death's Head advanced on foot up the left flank without support while Ironclaw embarked in SteelCage and moved out to an uplink on the right flank as Dragonfly deployed to the airspace. Dragonfly scouted ahead and only encountered garrison infantry of the area. Dragonfly opens fire on the garrison and kills many, but there are very large numbers of infantry returning fire and it isn't long before Dragonfly's shields fail and the squadron is forced to pull back. Griffon squadron deploy and Death's Head upgrade the uplink they just secured to allow for the deployment of regular army troops as reinforcements. Griffon advances up the middle and Dragonfly re-engages the garrison, killing more troops. Then Dragonfly detects an enemy tank squadron advancing through their position over a bridge in the centre of the battlefield. Dragonfly break off combat and engage the tanks, pinning them on the bridge. As the first tank explodes in a rush of fiery death, Dragonfly III loses control and crashes down in the water below after being pummelled by fire from the tanks. Feeling they are going to lose the engagement, Dragonfly I, II and IV pull away, but as they fall back, Dragonfly II gets shot down also. Condor deploys and Dragonfly I and Dragonfly IV withdraw from the battle, wary not to lose any more men. Condor finishes off the tanks on the bridge as enemy transports roll in. Condor moves back as SteelCage take them on. Behind SteelCage, Ironclaw disembarks again and moves to take another nearby uplink. This uplink is a building complex of some kind surrounded by chain-link fence and a large amount of open, flat space between the other opening in the fence and the uplink, with absolutely no cover. Elsewhere, Griffon move flat out in a bid to help SteelCage in time. Arriving at the bridge, Griffon squadron open fire on the transports, taking them all out before they can pull back. Unfortunately, two vehicles of SteelCage are nothing more than smouldering wrecks, the dead crews thrown recklessly about like ragdolls by the explosion that ended them. Nearby, Condor notices movement and upon investigation, discovers that it is a squad of engineers, dashing for cover to set up firing positions and shoot them down. Reacting quickly, Condor, SteelCage and Griffon all move out to engage the engineer squad before they can take cover. With the combined firepower of all 3 squadrons, the engineers are decimated as they are caught out in the open. Meanwhile, Death's Head continues to push up the left flank, with few engagements. After defeating the engineer squad, Griffon and SteelCage hold position and fire upon entrenched riflemen while Condor breaks off and heads in the direction that projectiles can be seen being fired. They discover the source to be artillery pieces and immediately engage as a tank from Griffon squadron explodes in a ball of fiery hell. Despite Condor firing all of their available weaponry at the artillery, they cannot stop them before a final volley takes out Griffon squadron, the survivors of which, clamber from the tank wrecks and fire a flare into the sky for emergency extraction. The enemy riflemen which Griffon and SteelCage engaged eventually went down, but SteelCage suffered heavy casualties in return, and was now relatively isolated. Shortly after taking out the artillery, Condor is ambushed by transports who hid from the sky under the cover of trees, and are quickly shot down. SteelCage, deciding that their casualties are too severe to be of any further use in the battle, turn around and drive back to friendly lines, withdrawing from the battle. This left Ironclaw isolated with no support in the centre, with a lot of recent enemy activity being noted close by. They decide to radio in for regular army troops to reinforce their position against a possible hostile counter-attack. A regular army platoon is swiftly deployed nearby and efficiently lock down the area, securing the uplink and surrounding area. To compensate for the recent casualties, another gunship squadron, Vulture, is deployed, as well as the tank squadron Mammoth.

After several minutes of silence, the enemy counter attack comes in the form of 2 transport squadrons driving to the centre of the building complex and firing at all the Russian troops in the surrounding buildings. Ironclaw dived into cover behind a set of barricades, and together with the regulars fend off the transports at the uplink site until help can arrive. Meanwhile, Death's Head continues to advance up the flank, barely challenged. Ironclaw defeats the transports just as reinforcements arrive in the form of Mammoth and combat transports code-named Express arrive. Thirsty for blood, Ironclaw continued to fire at the enemy transports, pinning them down as they tried to extract. At this point, the enemy crashes the uplink that Ironclaw and the regular troops fought so hard to defend, as they entered DEFCON 1.

* * *

"Keep firing! Keep firing!" the sergeant yelled as the last European combat transport exploded in a ball of flames. As the survivors jumped out of the wrecks and radioed for emergency-evac, they were gunned down by the sergeant's squad, Ironclaw, and the regular troops assisting them. The sergeant ducked behind the low cover of the barricade as he reloaded his weapon. As he faced behind them, he saw the majestic forms of Russian tanks as Mammoth squadron drove up the hill, weapons ready to fire, followed closely by Express, the combat transports that would pull them out if the combat zone got too hot to maintain their position.

"Sir!" one of his tech-specialists yelled from beside him, trying to be heard over the roar of guns. "The Europeans… They've crashed the uplink… It's out…"

The sergeant cursed. They had lost a lot of lives taking and holding this uplink and the Europeans knew it. They had made the sacrifice of those men and women lost count for almost nothing. When the sergeant fired again, he placed his shots carefully. He shot to kill, but slowly, painfully…

All of a sudden, a chill went down the sergeant's spine. He couldn't place what it was but something felt… different… He looked up at the sky and what he saw made his eyes go wide.

"Everybody, run! Get clear! Go! Go! Go! Go!" he yelled, running away as fast as his legs would go, but it was too late. The European Orbital Tactical High-Energy Laser opened fire on the crashed uplink. A lot of lives were lost in the blast.

* * *

The Europeans fired their WMD as they entered DEFCON 1, and there was no time to escape for its victims. Ironclaw, Express, and Mammoth are all caught in the lethal blast. The 2 transport units that the Europeans were extracting died in the strike, their sacrifice necessary for the good of the battle. Fortunately, there were survivors from all the Russian units hit, and evac helicopters were on site ASAP, the blast meaning that the area was free of hostiles, so they faced no resistance as they made the pick-up. Meanwhile, Death's Head had pushed up hard on the left flank and were now deep behind enemy lines. Vulture made a bee-line for the enemy deployment zone, infuriated at the Europeans surprise WMD counter-attack and the casualties it reaped, and went hunting for enemy stragglers still in the combat area. Commander Fox called in 2 new units to reinforce the field. The tank squadron Orge and the combat transports Armadillo deployed and moved all-out to the enemy deployment zone as Vulture finds and engages enemy riflemen prowling in the forest. The enemy riflemen quickly go down as Vulture squadron burn off some anger, but Vulture weren't finished there. Vulture wanted revenged for her comrades lost in battle and mercilessly shoot down the medi-evac helicopter with the enemy riflemen survivors on board. Much to the dismay of Vulture squadron, who still hungered for blood, those were the last European troops in the sector. This area had become too costly for the Europeans to hold, and they had ordered a full retreat. Victory to the Motherland!

* * *

In the after-action report, four units received promotion for their actions on the battlefield. Because of their deep penetration of enemy lines and the capture of several uplinks during the battle, Death's Head were promoted yet again, becoming not only the battalion's most elite, but the most renowned and elite unit in all of the Russian forces. Ironclaw were also promoted to the rank of veterans for their valiant defence of a key uplink against numerous enemy forces. Condor gained a promotion to hardened warriors for giving the lives of several of their crews to destroy the artillery and protect the lives of other units in the battalion. The survivors of Condor felt pride of what they and their fallen brothers accomplished. Vulture, true to her name, had hunted down and killed the enemy stragglers, left behind in the retreat, clearing the enemy from the sector and earning the respect of their comrades in this battalion for their vicious firepower in the form of promotion to the rank of regulars. They also gained a reputation for being hotheads and quick to anger.

* * *

After the conquest of Pamlico, the remained of the week was relatively quiet. Other Russian forces defended Fort Campbell against the American last-ditch attempt to regain territory. In Europe, Russia defended Vlore against a European assault and took Istra from them.

* * *

In the command vehicle of the 39th Tactical Battalion, Commander Fox had an incoming call from Russian high command. He pushed a yellow blinking button on the control panel and a live image of General Sergei Izotov was displayed onscreen.

"General." Commander Fox said.

"Commander." The general replied.

"General, the operation was a success. European forces have been pushed out of America and the Americans are running out of options. We have sent up air defences in the territory we have claimed, separating American forces from Washington DC, so they will have no reinforcements." Commander Fox explained.

"Good. I have instructed other commanders to form a wall of men around the American capital, leaving you free to take out the remaining American resistance, as planned."

"General, if I have permission to speak freely?"

"Yes, commander?"

"What is this message for? I have already sent the after-action to you detailing all this."

"Yes, I have received the document, but I have new orders for you."

"Yes, sir?"

"You are to take your battalion back to our base at Sevastopol. Thanks to our scientific advances, we have recently acquired new, small-scale aircraft that can be used to deploy your infantry further into the combat zone than our standard aircraft would allow for fear of being shot down. You are to return to base to collect these new aircraft, and for your men to receive training in how to rapidly deploy from these aircraft. You are also to trained the guards there in your combat techniques so that they could hold off a potential invasion until reinforcements arrived."

"Yes, sir. Are we expecting an invasion?"

"No, commander, but Sevastopol is a vital port and if it were to be taken from us, we would be quickly put on the back foot."

"Understood, general. We'll leave immediately."

"Very good, commander. I await word of your arrival. Izotov out."

The screen went black. The technicians in the command vehicle all looked at Commander Fox, awaiting his orders.

"Ok, men. Get the word out. We're headed back to Europe for a while."


	6. Raid on Sevastopol

Week 6

The 39th Tactical Battalion flew back from America to mainland Europe, to the naval base in Sevastopol, to restock, rearm and train the local garrison. Russia had deemed America on the point of being crushed as most of their territories were separated from their capital and their president, preventing any effective resistance movement. Commander Fox had to admit that he was growing to hate the campaign in America.

' _The American spirit had been broken. Even if they hadn't fallen yet, what did further loss of life actually achieve?'_

He shook the thought from his head. There was no need for such thoughts in the Spetznaz. For now, he focused on the current events. Since they had flown back here, they had been training the local security force on the advanced combat techniques they knew, and were slowly learning how to utilise the new aircraft effectively to rapidly deploy small units of infantry to the heart of the battle. The new Mi-55 Locust allowed small units to infiltrate past enemy defences and deployment behind enemy lines, where the infantry could use their active-camo stealth equipment to disrupt enemy forces and report enemy numbers and positions back to the main force. They had spent just under a week here when, on the sixth night, they were ambushed…

* * *

It was cold, dark night in Sevastopol with the repetitive crash of thunder after the sudden brightness of lightning. Isaak Mikhailov was a security worker here and had spent the past six days being trained by the battalion that had recently flown back here to receive an upgrade to their arsenal. The training was tough and gruelling, but he understood the need and followed the training rigorously. While most of the newer members of the security force ended the day by slumping into bed after a hard day of training, he liked to stay active. It kept him focused. Because of that, we was generally fitter than all of the others were. Not the biggest guy, but the fittest. He snapped out of his daze and cursed his foolishness. He was supposed to be patrolling, not strolling with his head in the clouds. He continued to march around the office building, swaying the beam of his flashlight back and forth as he patrolled. Before he knew what was happening, he felt a blow to the back of his head and his vision went dark.

* * *

"Alpha, this is Foxtrot Romeo. Guards neutralised. Phase one complete. Proceeding to phase two." The French soldier said, crouching over the unconscious form of Isaak as the rest of his fireteam advanced, weapons raised, suppressors on.

"Copy that Foxtrot Romeo. Keep us updated."

* * *

Commander Fox paced around the office, waiting for the other man to arrive. After several moments, the man quickly bustling inside, clearly in a rush with papers hanging out of his briefcase. He readjusted his glasses before shaking hands with the commander. The commanders grip was strong and firm, but not in a way that would cause pain. In contrast, the man's shake was feeble and nervous, his palms sweaty.

"Sorry I'm late." He said to the commander. Commander Fox only grunted in reply.

They spent the next several minutes discussing finances, the battalion's progress and recent upgrade, and the training of the security. They failed to notice the night-vision goggles glaring in the gap in the doorway…

* * *

The three guards' heads exploded in gore and they slumped lifelessly to the ground in the open space between the rows of fighter jets. European commandos had simultaneously shot the three of them in the head from range. This eliminated the last of the Russian guards in the area. The small airfield was clear.

"Alpha, this is Yankee Bravo. Extraction zone cleared. Phase two complete." A Spanish commando reported.

"Copy that Yankee Bravo. Kilo Lima, you're cleared for phase three. All units, prepare to go loud."

"This is Kilo Lima. Breaching now."

* * *

Four spec-ops commandos burst into the room, weapons raised. The first two inside opened fire, their outdated, suppressed MP5 SMGs tearing holes in the man with the briefcase. He trembled as each shot struck, before eventually dropping to the ground, limp and lifeless. Commander Fox was caught completely off guard and it took him several seconds to react and reach for the pistol on the desk. The first commando grabbed the commander's hand, preventing him from reaching the weapon, but the commander had served in the Spetznaz for some time, and twisted the commando's arm until it was around his neck and the commando was a human shield, he picked up the pistol and aimed, using his weaker hand, at the commandos and opened fire. His first shot went wide and he quickly compensated, placing the second round in the skull of a commando. The two shots rang loud in the office and within seconds, an alarm was triggered, awakening the full force of the base. The commander allowed himself a grin of triumph as the alarms sounded, but was caught off-guard once again when the commando threw his elbow back into the gut of the commander and threw him over his shoulder by the arm. His arm locked in an unusually position and the commando delivered a brutal kick to the back of the elbow, breaking the arm with a sickening crunch. The commander yelled in pain, but a sudden strike to the back of the neck knocked him out cold. The commando took the limp form of the commander and tied his wrist and ankles together with cable-ties while one of his teammates placed a grenade in the hands of their dead comrade, the other watching the door. When they left, one carried the unconscious commander Fox, and the other one pulled the pin on the grenade as he contacted their command.

"Alpha, this is Kilo Lima. Target secured. Making our way to extraction. Gerfaut went down in the capture. We need immediate reinforcements!"

"Copy that Kilo Lima. Bravo and Charlie are deploying."

* * *

"What the hell is going on here?" The leader of the local security forces demanded to know, making his way into the command centre of the base.

"Unknown, sir. The alarms were triggered in sector two, and several guards aren't reporting in." A technician reported.

"Sir, we have incoming hostiles deploying on the airfield." Said another.

"Where did they come from?" yelled the leader.

"I believe they are being flown in by transport heli from Brenner Pass, sir!"

"Where is Commander Fox?"

"Unknown, sir."

"Right. Get every guard left and deploy them t-"

A large explosion that destroyed the upper levels of one of the office buildings interrupted the leader. The commander centre was stuck in shocked silence for several seconds. The commander stood before a virtual map of the base.

"Men, I will be assuming command of the 39th Tactical until Commander Fox arrives."

"Sir, we believe the Europeans are flying in low to grab key uplinks and secure a drop zone for a larger invasion force. The enemy have no mission supports but we have word that we have air support being scrambled from Moscow. The enemy commander appears to be Guillaume Delas of Enforcer's Battlegroup 28 (Assault).

* * *

SteelCage and Ironclaw were the first to be armed and ready to take on the European raiders. Ironclaw immediately embarked in SteelCage, allowing them to deploy rapidly to key defence positions. The drove all-out to one of the three bridges that would be a chokepoint against the Enforcers' advances. Dragonfly took off and moved to engage enemy gunships moving up the left flank, while SteelCage moved to assist. Ironclaw took cover behind barricades as enemy tanks and transports attacked and rolled across the bridge. Death's Head utilised the new Mi-55 Locusts with unfounded skill and deployed right next to Ironclaw in the heat of battle. Sadly, as they rappelled down to the ground, Ironclaw were gunned down in a hail of bullets and a barrage of shells. Death's Head dove straight into cover and laid down covering fire for the survivors of Ironclaw to retreat to safety. Meanwhile, on the left flank, Dragonfly took heavy damage very quickly and were forced to withdraw before they could be shot down. As they pulled back, Griffon deployed and moved to assist Death's Head before they could share the same fate as Ironclaw, but Death's Head had taken cover in a building and killed an enemy engineer unit and an enemy transport squadron as they traversed the bridge. But despite their efforts, the bridge was lost.

Condor was next to deploy and moved to protect SteelCage from tanks, as they were currently unsupported and isolated on the far right flank. Death's Head secured and upgraded an uplink to enable airstrike targeting and Condor engaged and destroyed the enemy tank unit that had crossed the bridge earlier before it could destroy an objective. The defence turrets finished the job by killing the survivors. They then moved to engage another tank squadron. The tank squadron went down as they destroyed the objective but the base defences shot down the evacuation copters of both units. SteelCage, Condor and the defence turrets fired upon hostile engineers as air support from Moscow finally arrived.

* * *

"This is Eagle-1, targets marked. Firing weapons."

* * *

An airstrike was called down on the engineer unit, cutting down half of their squad before they reached the cover of a nearby building. As they set up firing positions to turn the tables on the Russian troops, Condor and SteelCage pulled back as a second airstrike finished them off. Enemy tanks crossed the central bridge but Death's Head were waiting and with the added firepower of Griffon, quickly stopped the tanks' advance in its tracks, blowing the tanks to nothing more than smouldering wrecks with the assistance of an airstrike. The Russian defenders had a rough start to this raid but through skill and perseverance, they clawed their way back to get victory in their grasp.

* * *

"Alpha, this is Kilo Lima. We're making our way to extraction but our reinforcements are taking casualties. The Russians have locked down the central and northern bridge. We are isolated and cut off from extraction. Can we get emergency exfil at our location, over?"

"Negative, Kilo Lima. We are re-directing a satellite to get your position. Hold for two mikes."

"Copy that, Alpha."

"Kilo Lima, there is a bridge, directly south of your position. Seems the Russians forgot to lock down that one. Move on that position and cross there. I'm sending a tank squadron to cross there to from our side and flank the central bridge. We'll prep a bird for your exfil. How copy?"

"Solid copy, Alpha. Moving out."

* * *

Having securely locked down their side of the bridges, the 39th Tactical Battalion decided to go on the offense and push the raiders back, starting with Condor pushing to the enemy deployment zone. They arrived as enemy riflemen were being deployed and the immediately engaged before they could scramble for cover. An airstrike helped to cut them down. The riflemen were killed before their evac could arrive and Condor remained in the enemy deployment zone to engage and hostile reinforcements from Brenner Pass.

* * *

The commandos passed the tank squadron shortly after crossed the bridge and they sprinted to the extraction zone, Commander Fox still unconscious. They took cover behind a jet that never launched and radioed command once again.

"Alpha, we're at exfil, but there's a hostile gunship squadron in the skies right above us. We can't get out to the open and be extracted until they're clear of here!"

"Copy that Kilo Lima. Wait for it…"

* * *

Out of nowhere, enemy tanks pushed up across a bridge on the right flank to the south and engaged SteelCage and the nearby objective. Condor pulled away from the enemy deployment zone to intercept and so did Griffon, who was much closer. A finally airstrike was called down on them and half the tanks exploded before the aircraft had to return to Moscow to refuel and rearm. SteelCage took losses but they managed to outrun the tanks and get away, weaving in and out of lanes and wide alleyways between buildings. Griffon fired their Bumblebees (chemical flamethrowers) to finish off the tanks before Condor could arrive. The enemy could not afford to contribute more bodies to the raid and no further reinforcements were sent in. The European raid on Sevastopol had been repelled.

* * *

The extraction copter flew low and quietly, landing softly on the airfield. The rear door dropped down with a low groan and the commandos made their way up the ramp, but they were stopped halfway up by a group that stood at the top of the ramp. The glaring light from inside bathed the figures in shadow.

"Who are you, picked up survivors?" asked a commando.

"No," said Lance Corporal Volkov, "Border security."

Death's Head opened fire from the top of the ramp and gunned down the commandos before they could react. Volkov marched over to the commander and cut the zip ties binding him using his combat knife. Commander Fox rubbed his wrists as he regained consciousness.

"I've never been so happy to see you, lance corporal." Commander Fox smiled.

* * *

After the failed raid, SteelCage were promoted to veterans for remaining alive thanks to their top-level driving and evasive manoeuvres for as long as they did in the face of enemy fire. Condor was also promoted to veterans for their efforts in battle. In the rest of the week, Russian forces defended Carpathin in Europe against American invasion and held out on American soil against the Americans in Chattanooga, before pushing and taking Pascagoula from them.


End file.
